Reading Goal Calculator
See exactly how many books or pages you need to read each day to hit your annual goal.
About this tool
Reading Goal Calculator
Reading Goals works out how many pages or books you need to read per day, week or month to hit a target.
How to use it
- Enter your target, in books or pages.
- Set the timeframe.
- Read the daily, weekly and monthly pace required.
Why the daily number is the useful one
An annual target is not actionable. Fifty books a year is a number you cannot act on today, which is why such goals are abandoned by February. Broken down it becomes about one book a week, or roughly 25 to 30 pages a day.
That is the number that changes behaviour, because it is small enough to be obviously achievable and specific enough to check. Twenty-five pages is around half an hour for most readers, which is a realistic thing to protect in a day.
Worked example
A common annual target:
- Goal50 books in a year
- Average lengthabout 300 pages
- Total15,000 pages
Result: About 41 pages a day, or roughly 45 minutes of reading.
When it helps
- Turning a reading target into a daily habit.
- Checking whether a goal is realistic before committing.
- Working out whether you are on pace partway through.
- Setting a pace to finish a specific book by a date.
Common mistakes
- Setting a number without checking the daily pace it implies.
- Counting books rather than reading. Book count rewards short books and encourages finishing things you are not enjoying.
- Treating a missed day as failure rather than adjusting the pace.
